Immigrants Seek Halt In New Visa Lottery Drawing

MIAMI (CBS4)- Dozens of people mistakenly told they had won the U.S. visa lottery are seeking to halt a follow-up July 15 drawing until their case is heard.

The group this week asked a federal judge in Washington to put off the next drawing for one of up to 50,000 so-called diversity visas. Members from the group hail from around the country, including Florida, and the world.

The group is suing the U.S. government and seeking class action status for more than 22,000 people told this spring that they had won the right to apply for the visas. Only people from countries with low immigration rates to the U.S. can apply for the visas.

French native Armande Gil is a psychologist in Miami who is among those seeking class action status in a federal lawsuit filed. Gil said she spent time and money preparing for her new life and was devastated to learn it was just a bureaucratic snafu. She and others want to be reinstated as lottery winners.

Officials later discovered the selection process was skewed due to a computer glitch, and they invalidated that drawing.

I’m okay with that, if that’s the case, because they hit the ground, running.

Most, if not all, have an excellent command of the English language, and unlike the third-world variety of so-called immigrants, they actually want to embrace American history and identity. Yes, we do have our own particular identity in the U.S.

Most all already possess an elevated sense of social responsibility and/or social etiquette as well.